Protest against the findings of the Palestine Inquiry Commission were expressed by practically every speaker at the Albert Hall meeting here last night, arranged as a memorial meeting for the late Lord Balfour. Three thousand people heard speakers representing all of the British political parties affirm the British pledge in the Balfour Declaration and listened to Lord Robert Cecil express amazement and dismay at the frivolity with which some writers and speakers deal with the treaty obligation undertaken by England.
After reading the preamble to the Palestine Mandate and quoting article 2 of that document which says, “That such political administrative and economic conditions be created in Palestine as to secure the establishment of a Jewish National Home,” Lord Cecil emphasized that nothing could be more precise or more definite than that. “That was the pledged word of Great Britain and of the British Empire following the reiteration of the pledge made before the League of Nations, reendorsing the previous pledge,” said Lord Cecil.
“Now we are being asked for an inquiry into British policy. I do not oppose inquiring into methods of the policy, but the policy itself cannot be placed in doubt for a single instant. Surely it is not an unfitting tribute that we may pay to Lord Balfour’s memory by saying, even now, with emphasis that there be no pandering with Great Britain’s honor.”
Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency, who presided, pointed out that yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Hebrew University and that a suitable decoration for the hall was formed, therefore, by Pilichowski’s picture of the opening of the University with Lord Balfour in the center. After drawing an analogy between the return of the Jews to Palestine in the time of Cyrus the Great and the present, Dr. Weizmann deplored the fact that Lord Balfour had died when he was most needed, and expressed the determination of the Jewish people to go on with the work.
Leopold Amery, M. P., emphasizing that the Balfour Declaration had been endorsed by every parliament or government since 1917, declared, “It is a policy, whose fulfillment involves difficulties, material and political, which it is unwise to ignore or minimize or exaggerate. I firmly believe that you can trust the British Parliament and the British people to make good Lord Balfour’s pledge and to carry out to its full fruition the great conception which will bring a new uplifting to an ancient people and added honor to the British Commonwealth.”
Lord Melchett, president of the English Zionist Federation, pointed out that he would have an opportunity to speak elsewhere regarding the report, referring probably to the debate in the
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
